DVLA website crashes as motorists try and renew car tax

Thousands of motorists were unable to renew their car tax earlier today as the DVLA website crashed under the new system which has scrapped paper discs.

The BBC reported that some drivers spent up to 13 hours online trying to get their tax renewed as the website faced “unprecedented volumes of traffic”.

The DVLA said that “normal service has now started to be resumed”.

Under the new system, some cars will be taxed twice as new buyers will no longer be able to benefit from any unused period of road tax, while seller’s will not be able to claim a refund on part of a month, the AA has warned.

A motorist driving a car that costs £500 a year to tax would lose £41 if they sold it on the first day of the month.

Similarly, a buyer purchasing a car in the middle of the month would have to pay Vehicle Excise Duty for the entire month.

The DVLA said this would not equate to much in extra revenue.

It said the paperless system, which will be policed by number-plate recognition cameras, will save it £10 million per year.

The RAC has previously warned that the new system will lead to tax evasion of up to £167 million, but the DVLA refuted the claims as “nonsense”.